Tea à la Russe.
Slice a fresh lemon; take off all the skin; lay the slices, with powdered sugar strewed over them, in a plate, pour out the tea, hot and strong, with plenty of sugar, and pass the lemon with it. Serve without cream. I shall never forget a surprise that was startling as well as a disappointment, that came to me one day, when, sinking under the depression of an incipient headache, brought on by miles of picture galleries, I called for a cup of hot tea in a foreign restaurant, and was served with what I instantly pronounced to be “poison!” “Molto buono,” protested the waiter, opening the tea-urn to show me a whole lemon, skin and all, swimming upon the steaming decoction of leaves. The combination of rind and the cream with which I had “trimmed” my share of the too-fragrant beverage, was indescribable. Still, I—rather—like tea à la Russe without lemon-peel and cream.
Third Week. Tuesday.
Soup and Bouilli.
6 lbs. brisket of beef, all in one neat cut, with as little bone as possible; 3 carrots; 1 small head of cauliflower cut into clusters; 4 turnips; 6 small onions; bunch of sweet herbs; 2 blades of mace; 1 tablespoonful of butter cut up in flour; dice of fried bread; pepper, salt, and French mustard.
Cover the meat well with water; bring to a very slow boil, and continue this for four hours, skimming often and filling up with boiling water as that in the pot sinks. At the end of that time, put in the vegetables, cut into neat squares. Season, and simmer about forty-five minutes, or until the carrots are tender. Take up the meat; rub over with butter and cover upon a heated dish. Strain the soup from the vegetables without breaking them, and set the colander in which they are left over boiling water until after the soup is served. Strain this again through a soup-sieve, and pour upon plenty of fried bread in the tureen. If you like a thicker soup, return it after the second straining, to the fire with a handful of tapioca, or of German sago, ready-soaked, and simmer until clear. When the soup is out of the way, arrange the vegetables in little heaps around the beef, all of a kind together. Put a cupful of the soup over the fire, stir in the floured butter, mustard, pepper, and salt, to your liking; boil up and pour over the beef.
Stewed Potatoes.
See Wednesday, First Week in October.